Cheerio Triumvirate
by Artsy.Bohemians
Summary: Quinn Fabray is back at the top of the pyramid and no one is going to take that away from her again.


**Triumvirate**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Glee.**

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Quinn Fabray strolled down the main hallway of McKinley High, her hair up in its customary pony tail now that she was, once again, head cheerleader of the Cheerios. She slowly looked over to the left side of the hallway as the crowd parted for her. Her head lifted further with pride, a satisfied smile on her face.

There was something about the Cheerio's uniform that made her feel greater than the rest of the school. Maybe it was the way that it was ironed to perfection or maybe that only a small fraction of the school was able to and allowed to wear them. She smiled, skirt swishing around her thighs. She passed Santana and Brittany, ignoring them. "_I need replacements."_ She thought. She looked at a crowd of Cheerios, studying them subtly.

She saw a flash of red from the corner of her eye that was not from the Cheerios uniform. She turned her head to see a red headed cheerleader talking with a brunette Cheerio. "_I don't remember seeing them before."_ She tilted her head, ponytail waving. She watched them critically for a couple more seconds before nodding decisively. "_They'll do."_

Quinn made her way over, "Hi, I'm Quinn Fabray and from now on you'll be hanging out with me. Which means you'll have to join the Glee club, sign up sheet is over there." She pointed. She smiled at them before walking away.

Imogene and Emily watched her leave. "Wasn't she pregnant last year?" Emily asked as she headed towards the sign up sheet to do exactly what she was just told.

Imogene followed, "Yeah, she was… what are you doing?"

"Signing up for Glee club."

"Can you even sing?"

"Can you?" Emily shot back, signing her name with a flourish. She handed the pen over.

"Yes I can as a matter of fact. My mom made me take singing lessons because she said that all ladies had to know how to sing," Imogene replied, writing her name down. She paused after doing so, letting her hand fall. "Why did we just do exactly what she said?"

"Because Coach S reinstated her as Captain."

"Right." Imogene murmured. "I wonder who's in Glee club…" she wondered out loud.

Emily looked at the clock, "Who cares, we've got Spanish now and I've been waiting all day to see Schuester."

Imogene smirked, "I love the way that he talks Spanish at us, makes me almost wish that I was paying attention." The two Cheerios walked down the hall, passing members of the Glee Club, paying them no mind.

Kurt turned to Mercedes, quirking an eyebrow. "Did you see what I just saw?"

"Two skinny white girls signing something on the bulletin board? Yeah," she replied, closing her locker.

"Those two 'skinny white girls'," Kurt quoted, "Were Cheerios and unless my eyes are mistaken there are two new names on the sign up sheet that Mr. Schuester put up."

"So we'll have more members in Glee Club, what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is that the two were Cheerios, probably sent by Ms Sylvester to spy on us and to take us down from the inside."

Mercedes sighed as they walked down the hallway towards their first class. "You've been watching Miss Congeniality again haven't you? And she already tried that. Last year. And it didn't work out."

"Well maybe it will work this year, who knows? It's a brand new year with new Cheerio robots ready to take over the world."

Artie wheeled by them, slowing down to join them. "Is Kurt giving out conspiracy theories again?" he asked.

Mercedes nodded, "He needs to chill out and buy some new shoes or something."

"What kind of conspiracy is it now?"

"He thinks that the Cheerios are robots hell bent on world domination and they're starting with the McKinley High Glee Club."

Artie nodded, "That makes sense."

Kurt motioned at him, "See, Mercedes. Someone agrees with me." He pushed a wayward strand of hair back into place, "Those Cheerios are just evil."

"Aren't you a Cheerio?" Artie asked.

"Well, yes, but I'm much more fashionable than them so it doesn't count. Plus I have my own opinions unlike Emily Callaghan and I am capable of feeling unlike the drone Imogene Watson."

The bell rang shrilly causing the three Glee Club members to hurry to their respective classes.

Sue Sylvester swaggered down the hallway, stopping by the bulletin board to see how many students signed up for the Cheerios and how many she would have to cut based on hair color and height. She froze when her eyes landed on the pathetic sign up sheet that Will Schuester had put up that very morning. There were two names on it; two names that should've been only on her sign up sheet. "_What's going on here?" _she thought, her eyes narrowing in anger.

She marched down to the Spanish classroom, pushing open the door. Will looked up at her, "Sue, you can't just barge—"

" I think you'll find William that I can do whatever I want; its in my contract. So turn your little curly q head around while I do so. E and I, my office now." She snapped, turning around after she finished her say, not waiting around to see if they were following.

Emily picked up her bag and quickly exited the classroom, not bothering to see if it was okay with Mr. Schuester. Imogene gathered her belongings, "Bye Mr. Schuester," she waved, flouncing out of the room.

Sue settled herself in the chair behind her desk. She pulled open a drawer and withdrew her protein shake mix and bottle, beginning to make her first one of the day. She didn't look up when the two Cheerios entered. "Sit down," she ordered. Emily and Imogene quickly sat in the foldout chairs available. Sue shook the bottle, glaring at the two.

"I don't know what you two were thinking. But this is just disgraceful. It's bad enough that three of my Cheerios have joined that stupid club, but now you two?" She leaned forward in her chair, pulling off her glasses. "Why did you do it, hmm? To ruin my life?" she demanded. "To ruin our shot at an eighth consecutive win at Nationals? Tell me now."

"Quinn Fabray told us to," Emily answered immediately, "So we did."

Sue slumped in her chair, rubbing her temples, thinking carefully. "Is that the truth? Not using it as a cover story, Imogene?" she shot her a look, "I know when people are lying, my parents were famous Nazi hunters and they taught me their interrogation methods which are now illegal in every state except Ohio."

"Yeah, it's the truth, Coach S. We wouldn't lie to you, you're the only person we look up to."

"So she told you to sign up… why'd you listen?"

"Cause she's head cheerleader," Emily said quickly. Sue turned her gaze on Imogene, raising a brow. Imogene nodded in agreement.

Sue leaned back, "I you can go back to Spanish. Callaghan you stay behind." Imogene stood, quickly exiting the office. Sue watched the door close. "Alright Callaghan, spill the tamales."

Rachel Berry skipped into the Glee rehearsal room, a bright (almost painful looking) smile on her face as she dragged her boyfriend, Finn Hudson behind her. She twirled around dramatically before sitting down, carefully crossing her legs. Santana and Brittany sat in the back row stretching. The other members of the club trickled in slowly. Quinn strutted in proudly, two Cheerios flanking her.

Brittany tilted her head in confusion, "Are they in Glee Club?"

"No, Britt," Santana answered.

"Oh, good," she let out a relieved breath, "Because I've never seen them before and I would've felt really bad." The three sat down in the three empty seats in the second row, sitting almost identically.

While the other Glee members were whispering to each other Will Schuester walked into the room, a very familiar piece of paper in his hands. "Hey guys, we've got people on the sign up sheet," he stated, waving the paper.

"We can tell, Mr. Schue," Kurt commented dryly, nodding to the two extra people in the room.

Mr. Schuester looked over, realizing that there were possible members in the room and smiled, "Sorry, ladies, I didn't know that you were already here."

"I showed them how to get here, Mr. Schuester," Quinn said. Mr. Schuester nodded, setting the paper down on the piano. He turned around, facing the group.

"Well, should we get to know our new members?" he asked.

Rachel's hand shot up into the air. "Mr. Schue! Aren't they going to audition before they're accepted into the club? I don't think that we would need them if they can't sing and I don't want to have to carry their weight too."

"Anyone who wants to join Glee can join, Rachel," he said sternly.

"As much as I hate to agree with Rachel," Kurt began, "She's right."

"The paper said 'No Auditions', nimrod," Imogene snapped.

"That's not very nice," Emily commented, "And as much as I hate to agree with Imogene… she's right."She paused. "Wait… I don't hate agreeing with her. I'm so confused."

"And we have another Brittany," Tina muttered. Mike nodded his head.

"Imogene is right. Though I don't agree with her language. It said 'No Auditions'."

Rachel huffed, "Well, that's not fair. All of the rest of us had to audition before we joined."

"Things change as time goes by." Imogene said smugly.

"So there," Emily added, finishing the sentence. "Plus, Puckerman and Chang… Mike Chang… not Tina didn't audition."

Mr. Schuester looked thoughtful, "Rachel has a point."

"I have one too!" Imogene snapped.

He seemed to ignore her comment. "This week's assignment is Duets. Would that be a good alternative to see how well they can work with the rest of you?" he asked.

Rachel sighed, "I believe that's satisfactory." Imogene frowned as Mr. Schuester turned around to talk to Brad.

She leaned down, taking a notebook out of her bag and flipping to a page. Rachel glanced over, noticing her picture. Imogene took a red Sharpie, carefully drawing a red 'x' across Rachel's face. She smirked, closing the book with a snap.

"What's that?" Quinn asked curiously.

"It's 'How We 'C' It'," Emily answered.

Mr. Schuester turned around before Quinn could ask more, a hat in his hand. The rest of the Glee Club groaned.

"Not the hat," Puck muttered.

"Now guys, it's all put up to fate," Mr. Schue stated, holding out the bowler hat. He quickly pulled out little slips of paper two at a time.

"Brittany S. Pears and Chang Tina. Finn Hudson, Mike Chang. Mercedes Jones and Santana Lopez. Kurt and Rachel. Emily Callaghan and Artie Abrams. Imogene Watson and Sam Evans. And Quinn Fabray and Puck."

"Mr. Schue! I protest the pairings for this assignment!" Rachel stated, standing up.

"Same here, there's no way that I'm singing with her," Mercedes motioned to Santana.

Finn and Mike high-fived, "Sweet man!" Quinn looked decidedly uncomfortable with the partner that she had been assigned. Tina looked resigned.

Mr. Schuester sighed, "Is anyone happy with their partner choices?"

Emily raised her hand, "I am." Imogene raised her hand too; she didn't know who this Sam kid was, but he couldn't possibly be as bad as having Rachel Berry for a partner. She felt slightly bad for that Hummel kid. Artie nodded, watching the group. Sam looked confused for a moment before shrugging.

"That's two out of seven, Mr. Schue! It's not even fifty percent!" Kurt protested.

"Guys, calm down. This is your assignment. So get with the program and start picking out songs." He paused, waiting for them to quiet down. "I remember that you were all psyched by the diva-off between Kurt and Rachel. So this is going to be a competition and whoever wins will get," he pulled something out of his pocket, "Free dinner at Breadsticks!" There were exclamations of delight and high fives exchanged. The bell rang, dismissing them. The Cheerio Triumvirate stood slowly, waiting for the rest to leave.

Quinn turned to her new friends, "What was that book you were writing in?" she asked curiously.

"It's 'How We 'C' it." Emily smiled.

"You know that movie Mean Girls? It's like their Burn Book but… tamer." Imogene explained.

"Can I see it?" Quinn asked.

Emily and Imogene exchanged looks, shrugging. "Sure." Imogene took it out of her bag, handing the notebook to Quinn, who in turn flipped through it, reading the pages.

"I think we have to add some stuff."

Quinn held out her hand for the marker, which Emily quickly produced. Quinn uncapped the marker and began jotting down her own notes on the papers. She snapped the book shut when she was done and handed it back to Imogene. She turned and began to walk out of the room, heading toward the cafeteria.

Imogene and Emily followed, "Hey Q, do you know who Sam Evans is?"

"And Artie Abrams?"

She paused. "You said you were fine with your partners and you don't know them." She said more as a statement than as a question. They both nodded. Quinn shook her head at them, rolling her eyes. "Sam is that new transfer. He's joined the football team and he has blond hair. Artie is the wheelchair kid." The two nodded in understanding, sitting at a corner table with Quinn, watching the cafeteria.

"I'm hungry. What are we eating today?" Emily asked.

"The table," Imogene answered sarcastically.

Emily stood, "I think I'll go check what Coach Sylvester has put up on our diet bulletin." She sauntered off. Imogene and Quinn sat in silence, not really knowing what to say to one another soon others joined them, most of whom Imogene didn't really know or care for.

"Hey Quinn," Puck said, dropping into a seat next to her. Quinn nodded, acknowledging his existence.

"What do you want, Puck?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Well, to eat for one. And second we need to pick a song for Glee."

She sighed, looking at the two other guys, "And you guys are just following him?"

"Uh, actually," the blond started, "I wanted to meet my singing partner so that we could talk about the assignment."

Artie nodded, "I, too, wanted to discuss the assignment and also want to meet my partner." He pushed his glasses back up.

Emily walked back to the table, eating a carrot stick. She sat down in her seat quietly. She chewed slowly; savoring the taste of the carrot, as it was the only one she would be allowed for that day. "Who are you?" she greeted with a smile.

"I'm Artie, your singing partner for Glee," Artie held out a hand. She shook his hand with the one that wasn't holding the carrot, which made it difficult as they both held out their right and left hands respectively. Artie switched his hand, shaking hers.

"It's nice to meet you," Emily stated, lowering her hand.

"So, have any idea for what song we could sing?" he questioned.

"Well, I really like Disney, Sleeping Beauty in particular."

He gave a disbelieving look, "You want to sing a Disney song?"

"Yeah, I kinda do, gotta a problem with it?"

Imogene was watching this interestedly, waiting to see the outcome. "Hey, I'm Sam."

"Nice to meet you, Sam," she said, "I'm Imogene and we'll be singing?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, what are you interested in?"

"I kinda like Colbie Caillat."

Sam thought for a moment, "So you know the song 'Lucky', right?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"It's a duet, you okay with singing that?"

"Um, yeah, when do you want to practice?"

"After practice. I mean, if that's alright with you," he suggested.

"So it's settled! We'll sing Once Upon a Dream," Emily decided amidst Artie's protesting.

Imogene giggled. "After practice is fine," she said to Sam.

**End Chapter**

**Should we continue?  
**


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